Host Panic
by Feralhousecat
Summary: One by one, the hosts begin to examine their relationships with Haruhi. Through a series of events, each of them is made aware of their feelings towards her, romantic or friendship. Who will confess first? Rated T because I'm not sure what's coming!
1. Chapter 1

So, ladies and gentlemen, here is the first chapter of my new series, Host Panic! I will warn you that I have very strong opinions about who should end up with who, and what relationships should go with what. Some questions may be left unanswered, and some may be answered very specifically. There will be cliffhangers, confessions, and maybe even kissing! So, with all that in mind, enjoy!

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HOST PANIC

Chapter 1: Together twins

Hikaru Hitachiin was in the worst of all moods. He stormed about his room in a rage, throwing things at the walls and watching them shatter with satisfaction...until he realized that he was breaking priceless antiques and quickly swept up the mess.

He flopped onto the bed with a groan. How was he supposed to stay calm when Kaoru was only a floor below him, suffering from some disease? And worst of all, their mother had forbid Hikaru from entering Kaoru's temporary sick ward until the origin and type of the disease was discovered, fearing that the disease was contagious.

Hikaru rolled onto his stomach and rested his chin on one hand. It had been a long time since he and his twin had been separated for more than a few minutes. Already Hikaru was experiencing that familiar sense of being shorn, crippled. He didn't dislike being by himself per se...but there was something so usual and comforting about having Kaoru next to him, bouncing ideas off him and seeing those sweet smiles that only Kaoru had. Kaoru insisted that, since Hikaru was his twin, he must have the same sweet smile. Hikaru knew better.

And then there was the fact that he worried about his brother. Kaoru seemed so helpless sometimes, so trusting. And now it was worst of all, because Kaoru was actually sick. Without Hikaru. Why couldn't their parents understand that, when one of them was sick, the only medicine they required was the company of the other?

Hikaru pounded his fist into one of the pillows. "You don't get it!" he had shouted at his mother as she barred entrance to the room where Kaoru was. "He needs me now more than ever! Let me in!"

"I don't want both of you catching this," she'd said calmly, crossing her arms. "Kaoru will be fine without you for awhile, at least until the doctor gets here and tells us if whatever he's caught is contagious."

Hikaru had put up such a fuss that his mother had banished him to the bedroom until the doctor had been and gone. Which is why he was stuck there, throwing things and punching bedclothes.

He pressed his face into the pillow and took a deep breath. The pillow smelled like Kaoru. Hikaru relaxed a little and turned over to stare at the ceiling. It had only been yesterday that Kaoru had started acting a bit strange: being quieter at the club and letting Hikaru do most of the talking, not laughing over one of their favorite movies yesterday evening, and falling asleep far earlier than normal. And then Hikaru had woken up in the middle of the night with Kaoru plastered to his side, clinging onto his twin in an effort to get warm, his teeth chattering and his face flushed with fever.

Of course, Hikaru spent the rest of that night taking care of Kaoru. He brought him more blankets and a pill to bring down the fever, and sat and talked to him while Kaoru shivered and flashed weak versions of the sweet smile at him. When their parents had arrived at the scene, they were furious at Hikaru for not waking them when Kaoru had the fever. Hikaru didn't care at first--he and his brother had never needed the help of adults before--but he had cared when his mother took Kaoru away to set up a sick ward.

There was a light knock on the door and Hikaru turned his back on it. "Unless you've come to tell me you'll let me into Kaoru's room now, I don't want to hear it!" he yelled.

"You're going to hear it anyway, young man." His mother slipped in and sat down on the side of the bed. "The doctor just left."

Hikaru couldn't help turning his head to look at her. "And...?"

"It's a bad case of the flu." His mother sighed. "He should pull through all right, but he'll need at least a week to rest and recuperate. We'll get him started on medicine right away so he isn't contagious too much longer."

"So he is contagious?" Hikaru asked, dreading the answer.

She glared at him. "If you're asking whether you can go see him, the answer is still no. And it will be no for at least three days."

"Three days?! I thought you only had to be on medicine for twenty-four hours before you stopped being contagious!" Hikaru said indignantly.

"Your brother needs peace and quiet, young man, and neither of those are words I'd use to describe you. You'll just have to do without him for a few days until he's gotten some of his strength back."

Hikaru slammed his fist into the pillow again, trembling with fury. "It's not a question of me doing without him. Are you stupid or something? He needs me, get it?"

His mother stood up and looked at him coldly. "That just earned you more time in solitary confinement." She crossed the room to the door and paused. "I know you're worried about Kaoru," she said, "but you don't have to take it out on us." Then she had shut the door behind her.

Hikaru's fingers were hovering over another breakable object before he realized what he was doing. He fell onto the bed on his knees and instead began to beat a tattoo into the pillow.

Three days.

Three days was a long, long time.

Hikaru spent a lot of his twinless time lying listlessly on his bed, worrying and thinking and breathing in Kaoru's scent from his pillow. Sometimes he stormed and cursed just because it made him feel better. He wanted to give his parents the silent treatment, but only by asking them could he gain precious insight into how Kaoru was doing.

He was excused from school after putting on a tearful show for his mother about how his concern for Kaoru would affect his schoolwork. Of course, he had to compose an email to Kyoya telling him why he and his brother wouldn't be at the club for a few days. Once his cell phone rang with Kyoya's ringtone, but Hikaru let the voicemail get it. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with the club's shadow king.

Finally, four days after Kaoru had originally fallen sick, Hikaru was allowed in to see him. His twin was asleep when Hikaru burst into the room. He was wrapped in a comforter on the bed, so pale he looked white and his eyelids flickering uneasily. Hikaru sat down next to the bed, just happy to see his face.

Suddenly, Kaoru sat bolt upright and screamed, "HIKARU!"

"Geez, calm down!" Shaken by the sudden outburst, yet pleased that it had been his name that was called, Hikaru firmly lay Kaoru back on the pillow. "Mom'll have my head on a platter if she thinks I'm riling you up."

Kaoru's chest heaved as he tried to clear away the remnants of his nightmare. "Hikaru?"

"It's okay. I'm here now." Hikaru slipped easily into his usual role of comforting protector. "Went off and got the flu without me, eh? How could you?"

Kaoru relaxed and flashed the sweet smile at his brother. It was so easy for Hikaru to make him smile.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." Kaoru coughed. "Just tired, mostly. And you?"

"Furious at our parents for keeping me away so long."

Kaoru looked pained. "I wouldn't want you to get sick because of me."

"Don't be an idiot." Hikaru punched his brother's shoulder playfully. "You were probably contagious before you got any symptoms. Plus I've been all over your pillow for the past three days. If I was going to get sick, I would have by now."

He raised his hand to brush a strand of hair out of Kaoru's eyes, but his twin caught the hand and squeezed it. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Hikaru brushed his lips against Kaoru's knuckles--an act which would have prompted a lot of squealing and fainting at the club. Hikaru didn't do it for looks. He didn't really care whether people thought he was in love with Kaoru or not...weren't siblings allowed to kiss each other without causing a national incident?

"Hikaru, I..." Kaoru looked at his brother with eyes so sad that Hikaru looked away. "...I need to talk to you about something."

"What's wrong?" Hikaru scrutinized his twin with concern. "That nightmare still bothering you?"

"No...yes...sorta." Kaoru shook his head. "Hikaru...what would you do if you thought I had a crush on a girl?"

"Whaaat?!" Hikaru searched Kaoru's face for laughter, but found none. Shaken, he replied with a nervous grin, "I dunno...maybe tear her head off, for starters."

"That's what I thought you'd say." Kaoru sighed wearily. "What if it were the other way around? What if it were you that had a crush on some girl?"

"What are you getting at?"

Kaoru sighed again. "I...Hikaru, how do you feel about Haruhi?"

"Our toy?"

"Don't be an idiot. You know what I meant."

"Okay, okay." What game was Kaoru playing here? "She's...a fellow member of the club...a friend, I guess. Was that the answer you wanted?"

"There's nothing else?"

"Should there be?"

"Urrgh." Kaoru sat up despite Hikaru's protests. "No, there's more to it than that. There has to be." His eyes pleaded with his brother. "She's so different from any of the other girls we've met. She can even tell us apart! She's different, right?"

Hikaru finally connected two and two. "Kaoru...do you think I have a crush on Haruhi?"

Kaoru's eyes told all.

"B-but...Kaoru, that's crazy...I never...you're the only..." Hikaru's mind was reeling and dragged his mouth along for the ride.

"It was bound to happen eventually." Kaoru smiled sadly again. "You're such an idiot, Hikaru. I've been thinking about this a lot recently...and really, better Haruhi than one of the customers or something, right?" He lay back against the pillow and looked up at his twin. "This has been preying on my mind for ages."

Hikaru struggled to slip back into his normal routine. "You--you should get some rest. You've had a hard couple of days, and you're still sick..."

"No, listen. I have to say this. If I don't say it now, I may never have the courage again." Kaoru caught Hikaru's hand again. "I want you to know that if you ever decide that you like Haruhi enough to ask her out, you have my blessing. I don't want you to miss out on this because you're worried about me. We can't share everything. Just know that."

For a moment, Hikaru was struck with how similar this discussion was to one of Renge's Uki-Doki-Memorial scenes. She would eat this stuff up if she were here.

Kaoru was falling asleep again, despite everything. "Think it over, okay?" he murmured, his eyelids drooping. "Promise me."

"I...I can't even..."

"Hikaru." Kaoru forced himself awake and gripped Hikaru's fingertips. "Promise. Please."

"I--okay, I'll think it over."

That was all Kaoru had needed to hear. Smiling sadly, he finally let go of Hikaru's hand and drifted into a peaceful sleep, this time untouched by nightmares. And Hikaru was left staring down at his twin with a head full of questions, questions that his head had yet to ask his heart.

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I did warn you about the cliffhangers. :P Just so's you know, I have no idea how this is going to end yet. I mean, yes I know who will end up with who, but I don't know exactly how it's going to happen. So if any of this stuff surprises you, I'm probably more surprised than you are:D Keep an eye out for chapter 2, it will follow a different character(s)! 


	2. Chapter 2

Yayrah! Chapter 2 written in just three days! This may not always be the case, by the way--I have a lot going on right now, so some chapters may take longer than others!

I just wanted to make a few points here before you read the next section of Host Panic. Firstly, I wanted to ask for constructive criticism, for anyone who has any. Writing this is very much a learning experience. I'm not a huge fanfic writer--I prefer to make up my own characters and plots, as a rule--but I see this as a chance to play with some of my favorite already-existing stories while honing my writing skills. One thing I feel I'm missing in this particular fanfic is the sense of playfulness and surrealism that Ouran usually has. I think it will pick up some of that as the story progresses, but any constructive criticism/advice/anything is welcome!

Also, I wanted to again warn you that this saga is going to have very clear-cut indications of who ends up with who. If you're very set on one particular pairing and don't like reading fanfics with any other pairings, this may not be the fanfiction for you! I don't want to give away the ending (i.e. who Haruhi will end up with) but I just want to make it clear that the ending pairs will be very obvious and non-changing. So bear this in mind as you read--I don't want to disappoint anyone who's thinking that their pet pairing is the favored one up till the end!

So with all this in mind (I swear I'm done talking now) enjoy chapter 2!

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CHAPTER 2

Interesting Prospects

Kyoya Ohtori was always the first to arrive at the third floor music room. It was normally he who arranged the room to suit the day's theme, he who unboxed and prepared the costumes, and he who was calmly playing with the club budget when his fellow members began to arrive.

Today, however, something was different. A mere ten minutes after he arrived, a firm knock sounded on the door. Frowning, Kyoya crossed the room to see who it was. The club members had keys, and the regular customers knew very well when opening time occurred.

Standing behind the door was a winded, out-of-breath Haruhi. "Sorry I'm late!" she panted. "Why's the door locked?"

"Late?" Kyoya blinked at her. "Far from it. Actually, you're early."

He stepped aside to allow her to enter. As soon as she was inside she looked up at the clock, glared at it, examined her watch, and groaned. "Apparently a few screws got loose when I dropped my watch this morning. It said I was a half hour late."

"When the truth is that you are a half hour early." Kyoya smiled tolerantly. "Although I am wondering why you don't have your key?"

Haruhi's expression was blank for a moment. "Oh, right. That thing. I must have left it lying around at home and my dad found it and put it on his keyring, thinking that it was one of his."

"And of course you wouldn't think to ask for a spare."

"I didn't really care that much. You guys would let me in if I ever got locked out."

"Probably true." Kyoya shut his laptop, which had been sitting on one of the tables. "Well, as long as you're here, you can help get the furniture arranged for the day's work."

"What's the theme today?" Haruhi followed Kyoya to one of the couches and together they began dragging it towards another grouping of chairs and tables.

Kyoya smirked. "Tamaki got ahold of some book about piracy from the library, so no doubt he'll be obsessed with swashbucklers for three days or so before the next obsession takes hold."

"So we're pirates?"

"Apparently."

The couch moved into place, Haruhi sighed and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I get tired of the dress-up games sometimes, y'know? If these girls are coming in to flirt with us, why do we need to act out the 'Host Club Police Force' or Arabian kings? They would come anyway, right?"

"An interesting view." Kyoya slightly adjusted the position of one of the chairs. "I suppose the reason behind the costumes is, in part, that it lends a sense of newness to the club activities. No matter who each customer requests, the service is the same--for Tamaki, the princely figure; for the twins, the brotherly love act; and so on. We don't want our customers to get bored, do we?"

"I guess not." Haruhi shrugged. "It still seems a bit silly to me, though."

"Perhaps. But, then, isn't every day a 'dress-up game' for you? Concealing your gender and pretending to be a man."

Haruhi wrinkled her nose. "I don't care what I wear that much. The costumes are troublesome. And those poofy dress uniforms all our customers wear are worse."

Kyoya laughed. It was certainly intriguing to have a conversation with the club's only female member. He normally didn't have a chance to have one-on-one discussions with her. When the group was together, it was usually to entertain the customers. And even when they were together outside hours, often it was the twins or Tamaki who had her attention.

On those rare occasions when Kyoya had encountered Haruhi, the topic often turned to himself. Haruhi seemed taken aback whenever Kyoya mentioned his motives behind...well, anything. As if a simple business interaction were to be condemned. Her underlying, unspoken question was always the same: "Are you only in this for the money or glory?"

Three years ago, Kyoya would have answered, "Yes." Now he wasn't quite as sure. A lot had changed in three years. Now Kyoya was the "shadow king" of a successful club, was in a constant battle with his older brothers to be the heir to the Ohtori businesses, and was a lot better off in the long run. Not that he would have admitted that to anyone, of course. It was best that everyone think that they were in the club for one reason alone: material gain.

The problem was that not everyone seemed to think that. He suspected that the twins were in the club just for the fun of it. Who knew what Hunny and Mori thought? And Haruhi, of course, was a part of the club only because of her own clumsiness.

Haruhi. Kyoya took a moment to examine her. She was pretty, in a pointy, boyish sort of way.

He blinked. Where had that thought come from? Was he seriously considering Haruhi's physical appearance? Where was the gain in that?

Gain again. Kyoya only ever weighed things by how much they would move him forward from a political or financial standpoint. What was so important about how Haruhi looked?

_Absolutely nothing,_ he answered himself. Aloud he said, "One way or another, you should get changed. We'll be opening in twenty minutes or so, and the other members will be arriving shortly."

Haruhi sighed and picked up the nearest costume. With a small wave to Kyoya, she disappeared into the back room to change clothes.

Kyoya, for his part, sat down to run some numbers on the club's expenses. But somehow he couldn't concentrate, so he closed his laptop again and rested his chin on one hand. "Okay, let's work through this," he said aloud. He had thought about Haruhi's physical appearance. Why?

No, that was too broad a question. _Start with the basics. Haruhi's status in the club is what?_

_Host, concealing her gender so as to work at a higher level and pay back the debt she owes the club._

That was straightforward enough. Kyoya nodded. _Next question: what is the status of Haruhi's relationship with the club members?_

He frowned. _The twins, unknown. While they clearly both have feelings for her, neither one seems too eager to act further on those feelings. Tamaki is obviously head-over-heels for the girl, but is completely oblivious to the fact. Hunny is unknown, although he's probably not thinking about that sort of thing yet. Mori is unknown...it seems unlikely that he would act on any feelings he might have for her._

Kyoya's frown deepened. That was a lot of unknowns. He liked everything to be black and white, clear as crystal...and unfortunately, relationships seemed to defy his guidelines. A nagging thought struck him: _And you? What is __your__ relationship with her, Kyoya?_

_A simple business relationship, of course. What else?_ What else indeed? When you considered that Haruhi would leave the host club in the blink of an eye if her debt was cancelled, what other relationship was available or desirable?

_But what about the time you went after her?_ the nagging voice mocked him.

Kyoya slammed his hands onto the table and stood up abruptly. _That was...I don't know what that was. _He still didn't know. That had been a strange evening. Haruhi had appeared in his room in Nekozawa's mansion during the club's trip to the beach. And Kyoya had...taken steps. Unnecessary steps, in all likelihood. It had worked out fine, as Haruhi had found false meaning in Kyoya's actions. But where had that come from in the first place? Was it merely a reaction due to puberty? Could it be blamed on that dress that Haruhi had been wearing which made her look so ridiculously attractive?

_There I go again. Attractive, pretty, beautiful. These are not words that I should be using in reference to her._ Kyoya began pacing. _What's the problem? How on earth is she getting to me this much? _

Then Kyoya stopped in his tracks and laughed softly. What a fool he was being. He was an Ohtori. Why should he let such a trivial matter as this get to him?

"Besides, what does it matter if she's attractive?" he said aloud as he took his seat again. "That doesn't mean anything. Lots of the customers are attractive enough."

"Kyoya-senpai?"

Kyoya looked up. Haruhi had emerged from the back room. She was dressed in a pair of black pantaloons and a red-and-white striped shirt. A dark blue bandana tying up her hair and a black patch covered one of her eyes. She was struggling to jam a wooden sword into a scabbard hanging at her belt, but it wasn't being cooperative.

"Need a hand?" Kyoya stood and came towards her.

"No, I think I'm good." Haruhi sighed, relieved, as the sword slid neatly into its place. "This costume is cumbersome."

"You would say that about anything we asked you to wear."

"Probably true." She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. "Kyoya, were you talking to yourself?"

Kyoya cursed under his breath. He'd hoped that she hadn't noticed. "Just having a bit of trouble with some numbers," he answered crisply. "Nothing to be concerned about."

"Oh. I see. I thought I heard the word 'attractive' but I must have been mistaken."

Damn it all. This girl was making circles of his orderly squares. Time to change the subject...and perhaps play a little game with her. "The twins won't be in today."

"Really?" Haruhi inspected him. "Not that I care, but why not? They hardly ever skip club."

"Apparently Kaoru has caught the flu. Nothing serious, but he's to stay in bed for the next week. Hikaru, of course, refuses to come without him."

"I see. Those two really are inseparable."

The words, Kyoya noted, were spoken with indifference. Haruhi truly seemed not to care whether the twins were around. "Surely you noticed when they didn't turn up in class today?"

"Not really. I did notice that it was quieter than usual, though." Haruhi smiled. "So, other than that, it's business as usual?"

"As far as I know."

The discussion was interrupted by the club's door opening. Tamaki stepped inside, his expression gloomy. His eyes were underlined with dark circles. He looked up, noticed the duo sitting together, and stopped in his tracks.

"H-Haruhi! You're here early!"

"My watch messed up."

To avoid a long exchange between the two--which would no doubt end with Tamaki skulking in the corner--Kyoya cut across the discussion. "Have you been staying up too late, Tamaki?"

Tamaki went red and mumbled something about studying. He grabbed his costume from the table and trudged off to get changed.

Kyoya frowned. It wasn't like Tamaki to shut down when it came to questions...unless those questions involved his "daughter." He shot a sideways glance at Haruhi, who was getting set up in her section of the club room and not paying any attention. Aha, so perhaps Tamaki was jealous because Kyoya had spent time alone with Haruhi? This seemed a promising prospect.

And here Kyoya found the answer to the question he'd been asking himself all afternoon. He couldn't pronounce Haruhi "attractive" or "pretty" or any variants thereof because it would shatter the business relationship he had with Tamaki. Which would ultimately be the club's demise. So he would keep his casual, business-like friendship with Haruhi, but at a distance. Anything more could be dangerous to the club's success, which was far more important than any frivolous thoughts provoked by adolescence.

Kyoya watched as Tamaki, dressed as a pirate captain and looking more cheerful, emerged from the back room and made his way to Haruhi. He watched the two exchange conversation for a few moments. He watched Tamaki, as he'd predicted, scuttling for the nearest wall to brood. And he watched Hunny and Mori arrive, noticing the searching look Hunny gave his fellow club members before he and his cousin went off to transform into pirates.

It would turn out much better this way, Kyoya decided. Now he could watch from a distance as the other club members engaged in their little dance, as friendships flowered into something more and perhaps withered as well. He could simply observe...and perhaps help things along a little, to make the game more amusing.

Kyoya smiled. This was going to be most interesting.


End file.
